The couple were later found dead, after they had shot and killed another person at a Walmart store nearby, the sheriff said.

The two cops were identified as Officer Alyn Beck, 42, who had been with the department since 2001 and leaves behind a wife and three children, and
Officer Igor Soldo, 32, who joined the force in 2006 and is survived by a wife and baby.

"It's a tragic day, it's a very, very difficult day," Gillespie said. "We still have a community to protect. But we will do it with our heads held high. It is truly a tragic day."

The two police officers were sitting in a CiCi's Pizza restaurant eating lunch late this morning when the man and woman walked in and opened fire on them.

"What precipitated this event we do not know," Gillespie said. "My officers were simply having lunch when the shooting started."

Both of the officers were hit, but one was able to return fire, he said.

The suspects then fled to the Walmart across the street, where they fatally shot a person inside and then killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact, the sheriff said.

The female suspect shot the male and then shot herself, Gillespie said.

The identities of the two shooters and of the third victim had not been released this evening.